While there are plenty of free VPN services and software available on the internet, it’s important to understand that whilst you might not be paying in cash for a certain service, you may be paying another way, and most times it’s not always that crystal clear.
This is recently been the case for Hola, a popular VPN and geo-unblocking browser add-on currently used by 46 million users worldwide. In fact, Hola’s free VPN offering that gives users a bypass to region locked sites has been doing something behind your back for a long time, however it’s only now that it’s really come to the attention of the general public.
Hola and It’s Bandwidth Stealing Capabilities
Recently, Fredrick Brennan, the operator of 8chan has opened up about a recent attack on his servers that has originated from the IP of various Hola users. After doing a little digging around, he’s found out that installing Hola onto your computer or browser can instantly make your internet connection an exit node for all sorts of internet traffic.
“When a user installs Hola, he becomes a VPN endpoint, and other users of the Hola network may exit through his internet connection and take on his IP. This is what makes it free: Hola does not pay for the bandwidth that its VPN uses at all, and there is no user opt out for this,” Brennan said.
When Torrentfreak questioned Ofer Vilenski, Hola’s owner, about the suspicious activity from Hola, Ofer Vilenski gave an open answer about how they use free Hola user’s internet connections to sell on to other customers through their sister business, Luminati.
Like mentioned in our opening paragraph, it’s rare to have a free service on the internet that doesn’t somehow make money through other methods. In Hola’s case, the company sells bandwidth to customers via Luminati, and this bandwidth is sourced directly from Hola VPN users. In simple terms, if you use Hola VPN you’re handing over your internet to Hola’s and Luminati’s customers to do whatever they want with it.
Not only is this a huge breach of privacy that many Hola users are utterly unaware of, there are also a number of other issues that arise from such a revenue model. Firstly, if you use Hola, your bandwidth could quite well be taken and used by Hola whenever your internet activity goes idle. Secondly, Luminati customers can send that traffic to anywhere they’d like, and the source leads straight back to you. The 8chan attack that was powered by Luminati’s service is a great example of how your bandwidth and IP address could be used nefariously without your knowledge.
Although Hola’s FAQ does now give details about their suspicious revenue model for free users, this information was not always in plain sight, and it wasn’t until 8chan operator Fredrick Brennan exposed Hola that they were more open and honest about it.
Even now, most Hola users will be unaware of what the software is doing to their computer and their own internet connection. The majority of Hola users have simply found it as a quick geo-unblocking tool. Millions of users have downloaded it within seconds without taking a second thought about how a free service like Hola may take advantage of a user’s data or information.
The Major Concerns of Free Services like Hola
There are a few major concerns that should be taken from this article. Firstly, using Hola is not ever going to be 100% safe or secure for you. Even if Hola boasts amazing security for its bandwidth hogging tendencies, if an individual or group were to bypass Hola’s security, they could potentially take your internet connection along with 46 million others to do with as they please.
Secondly, there’s no true way of knowing how your internet bandwidth may be used, even if it’s only used by legitimate Luminati customers. If your bandwidth is used by Hola, a footprint is made and traces will lead back to you. This means your own IP address could be used for illegal activity or nefarious purposes.
Another thing to take from this is one simple ethos that you should carry with you wherever you go, although it’s mostly relevant to the internet – If you’re given a product or service for free, you are most likely the product. Your data, your personal information, or in this case, your internet is no doubt being used by many other companies just like Hola that offer up free services or software.
